Strategic Management

MGT4476 Case Analysis—Paper Template
Instructions:

1. SPACING: The assignment should be double-spaced, except for the “Timeline,” which should be single-spaced with double spacing between entries. The “Reference” section should also be single-spaced with double spacing between entries.
2. FONT SIZE: Use Times Roman 12-point font.
3. FORMAT: Number all pages (bottom of page), and indent new paragraphs 5 spaces.  Use the APA writing style to properly cite and reference all research material.
4. LENGTH: The body of the paper usually consists of 15-20 pages of text, which typically translates into 4-5 typed pages per person.
5. RESEARCH: Effective research references many sources. (Use sources less than or equal to 10 years old.)  Some basic references include the following:
6. Your textbook
7. yahoo.com and MSNmoney.com
8. com
9. Company Profile and Industry Profile:
   Business Source Premier (Enhanced)
   Datamonitor reports from Troy’s electronic databases (http://library.troy.edu/databases_business.html)
10. The company’s website
11. Small Business Administration (sba.gov)
12. Wikipedia’s references or sources (NOT Wikipedia)

6. INSTRUCTION PAGE: You must delete the instruction page; that is, the title page is the first page of the report.
7. Industry Analysis Scale:

76-100:  High
61-75:    Moderately High
40-60:    Moderate
25-39:    Moderately Low
0-24:      Low
 

Company name

(Case Analysis)

Group #-Section

Member  A

Member  B

Member  C

Member  D

Presentation Date
Introduction

State your intentions/plans for the paper. [Give an overview of the paper, and indicate the year of your case.]

Background

Vision Statement

“Give the company’s actual vision statement. (Author’s last name, Year)”

Mission Statement

“Give the company’s actual mission statement. (Author’s last name, Year)”
Evaluate the mission using David’s (2005) nine components of an effective mission statement.  (Indicate the “present” components only!)  Is this an effective mission statement?

History/Timeline (approximately 12 years)

1950:   The company was founded by _____ in _____.  (Additional information wraps to the second line.)
1970:   The company introduced the _____.  (Additional information wraps to the second line.)
1985:   The company became the industry leader with _____% market share.

Industry

Present an overview of your company’s industry (product market).  For example, if it is the food and beverage industry, you would indicate the two primary divisions—full service and fast food.  You would distinguish between the two and then elaborate on the features or components of your specific sector. You must indicate market share and growth rate information for the industry.  (This information will determine the company’s position in the Grand Strategy Matrix.)  You must also indicate the industry’s total revenue.

Company Overview

Provide an overview of the company.  Identify the company’s objectives and strategies.  Specifically, what is the company’s business-level strategy?  If corporate-level and international-level strategies are applicable, what are they?  List the company’s competitors to identify its strategic group.  List and/or describe the items sold by your company to differentiate it from its competitors.

Strategic Analysis

SWOT Chart (Section Overview)

External Environment: General Environment (Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson, 2007)

Please note that this section is not about your company.  That is, the general environment is part of your external analysis.  It is okay to discuss the ramifications of the segment’s trends in a separate or second paragraph, but the first paragraph in each segment should be devoted to the relevant trends.  Refer to the handout titled “General Environment: Sample Trends” for examples of segment trends.
Demographic: Indicator 1, Indicator 2, Indicator 3.  Indicate trends (at least three) that reflect this segment of the company’s market (e.g., age distribution, income distribution, geographic distribution, ethnic mix, and population size).
Sociocultural: Indicator 1, Indicator 2, Indicator 3.  Indicate trends (at least three) that reflect this segment of the company’s market (e.g., lifestyles, cultural values).
Political-Legal: Indicator 1, Indicator 2, Indicator 3.  Indicate trends (at least three) that reflect this segment of the company’s market, trends that refer to the body of laws determining the nature of competition.
 
Economic: Indicator 1, Indicator 2, Indicator 3.  Indicate trends (at least three) that reflect this segment of the company’s market, trends that refer to the nature and direction of the economy in which the firm competes.
 
Technology: Indicator 1, Indicator 2, Indicator 3.  Indicate trends (at least three) that reflect this segment of the company’s market, trends that refer to the activities involved with creating and translating new knowledge into new outputs, products, processes, etc.
 
Global: Indicator 1, Indicator 2, Indicator 3.  Indicate trends (at least three) that reflect this segment of the company’s market, trends that refer to multinational activities or activities between 2 or more countries.
 
 

External Environment: Industry Analysis (Dess and Lumpkin, 2003; Porter, 1980)

Threat of New Entrants:  Percentage (Barriers)= _____     Force Rating= _____
_______1. Economies of Scale
_______2. Product Differentiation
_______3. Capital Requirements
_______4. Switching Costs
_______5. Access to Distribution Channels
_______6. Cost disadvantages independent of scale
_______7. Retaliation of Existing Competitors
(Indicate all “present” items.  Rate overall force as High, Moderate, or Low.)
Bargaining Power of Suppliers:  Percentage= _____          Force Rating= _____
_______1. The supplier industry is dominated by a few large producers.
_______2. The supplier doesn’t compete with substitute products.
_______3. The industry is not an important customer of the supplier group.
_______4. The supplier’s product is an important input to the buyer’s business.
_______5. The supplier group’s products are differentiated or
_______6. There are switching costs.
_______7. The supplier group is inclined to forward integration.
(Indicate all “present” items.  Rate overall force as High, Moderate, or Low.)
Bargaining Power of Buyers: Percentage= _____     Force Rating= _____
_______1. The buyer is concentrated or purchases large volumes relative to the seller’s sales.
_______2. The buyer purchases standard or undifferentiated products from the industry.
_______3. The buyer faces few switching costs.
_______4. The buyer earns low profits.
_______5. The buyer is inclined to backward integration.
_______6. The industry’s product is unimportant to the quality of the buyer’s products/services.
(Indicate all “present” items.  Rate overall force as High, Moderate, or Low.)
 
Threat of Substitutes:  Percentage= _____      Force Rating= _____
_______1. They are subject to trends improving their price/performance value relative to the industry’s product.
_______2. There are no switching costs.
_______3. The substitute industry is experiencing a growth rate in sales.
_______4. The substitute industry is experiencing expansion of capacity.
_______5. The substitute industry is experiencing high profits.
(Indicate all “present” items.  Rate overall force as High, Moderate, or Low.)
Industry Rivalry: Percentage= _____     Force Rating= _____
_______1. Many equally balanced competitors
_______2. Slow industry growth
_______3. High fixed or storage costs
_______4. Lack of differentiation or
_______5. No switching costs
_______6. Capacity augmented in large increments
_______7. High exit barriers.
(Indicate all “present” items.  Rate overall force as High, Moderate, or Low.)
Provide a summary of your analysis.  Overall, is this an attractive industry?  Conclude this section with recommendations for both existing firms and new entrants.
 
External Environment: Strategic Group (Major Competitors)
Major Competitor #1
Overview:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Objectives:
Strategies:
           
Major Competitor #2 
Overview:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Objectives:
Strategies:
 

Internal Environment: Financial Analysis (See Appendix C)

 
Compute each ratio within the five categories of ratios (see handout) and interpret.  You must have comparison data to interpret (i.e., historical and competitor). After evaluating each category, ascertain the company’s overall financial health.  (Please note that this section presents/provides an interpretation or evaluation of the numbers calculated in the financial matrices.)  Conclude with a recommendation to improve the firm’s performance.
Internal Environment: RBV and Balanced Scorecard
RBV (See Appendix D):  Indicate your company’s strengths and weaknesses relative to its key competitors (discussed above).  Provide a summary of (or explain) the matrix information.
Balanced Scorecard (See Appendix E):  Indicate the primary annual objectives necessary to reach the firm’s long-term goals.  Provide a summary of (or explain) the matrix information.  (Don’t forget to add sections to address all stakeholders.)

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Problem #1:  ID problem
Write a paragraph that identifies and discusses the first problem, including its symptoms.
Problem #2:  ID problem
Write a paragraph that identifies and discusses the second problem, including its symptoms.
Problem #3:  ID Problem
Write a paragraph that identifies and discusses the third problem, including its symptoms.

Alternative Solutions (Strategies)

Alternative Solution #1 : ID Solution
This solution should address the company’s problem profile, not a specific problem.  That is, you should not try to match each problem with an alternative solution but try to generate strategies or alternative solutions that address as much of the problem profile as possible.  For example, alternative solution #1 might address problems #1 and #3, while alternative solution #2 might address all the problems.
Alternative Solution #2: ID Solution
This solution should address the company’s problem profile, not a specific problem.  That is, you should not try to match each problem with an alternative solution but try to generate strategies or alternative solutions that address as much of the problem profile as possible.  For example, alternative solution #1 might address problems #1 and #3, while alternative solution #2 might address all the problems.
Alternative Solution #3: ID Solution
This solution should address the company’s problem profile, not a specific problem.  That is, you should not try to match each problem with an alternative solution but try to generate strategies or alternative solutions that address as much of the problem profile as possible.  For example, alternative solution #1 might address problems #1 and #3, while alternative solution #2 might address all the problems.

Recommendation/implementation

Select one of your alternative solutions as the best course of action for the company to follow at this point in time (or the time referenced in the case), and indicate the impact of the decision on the firm’s functional areas (Management, Marketing, Finance/Acct, Operations, R&D, Information Systems).

Update

            What has happened since the case was written?  (Note:  If this is a real-time case, this section is omitted.)

Conclusion

Provide a summary.  Overall, what do you think about the company?
 

References

David, F.R.  (2005). Strategic management: Concepts and cases (10e).  Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson-Prentice Hall.
Dess, G.G., & Lumpkin, G.T.  (2003).  Strategic management: Creating competitive advantages.  Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., & Hoskisson, R.E.  (2007).  Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalization: Concepts and cases (7e).  Australia:  Thomson South-Western.
Porter, M.E.  (1980).  Competitive strategy.  New York: Free Press.
 
(Add additional research sources to this list, and list the sources in alphabetical and chronological order using the APA format!)
 

Appendix A:  SWOT MATRIX

Appendix B:  GRAND STRATegy MATRIX (David, 2005)

Appendix C:  Financial Ratios

 
Assessment Notation: P=Positive Trend, N=Negative Trend, Dash=No Change.

 
Assessment Notation: S=Strength, W=Weakness, Dash=Neutral.
 
 
 
 
Appendix D: Resource-based view of the firm
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Appendix e: balanced scorecard
 

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